How to Write Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions are an important aspect of SEO, as it provides a short summary of your website’s page. The meta description is the snippet of text that appears under the titles on SERPs (search engine result pages). These descriptions will contain a summary of the web page that is linked above it. While these descriptions don’t have a direct impact on search algorithms, they’re still important to include for each of your pages.

Why Meta Descriptions are Important

After reading that these page summaries don’t have an impact, you may be wondering “why bother doing them if they don’t have an effect on search algorithms?”. While they may not have a direct impact on search algorithms, they do have an effect on driving visitors to your site. Meta descriptions allow visitors to have a quick glance and basic overview of the information on your page. By providing a well written meta description, you can drive traffic to your site over a competitor’s.

Best Practices for Writing a Meta Description

1. Keep descriptions between 105 - 160 characters in length

Meta descriptions provide a brief summary of the information on your pages. We’re looking for a good balance of information, while also being concise. When writing your meta description, you’re going to want to limit yourself to 160-characters. This is important because we want to give potential visitors as much information as possible, but also not have any of the information cut off.

You can use tools like the MRS Length Checker to help you visualize how your snippet will appear on SERPs.

Example of going over 160-characters in a meta description
| An example of a meta description going over 160-characters and information getting cut off

2. Include your keyword

Make sure to include your focus keyword into your meta description as search engines will highlight them. This helps potential visitors see that your page has content related to what they’re looking for. People tend to skim through search results and meta descriptions. Making it easy for searchers to see that your content has information related to their search is key. They are less likely to click on a result that seems to be not be related to what they’re looking for.

As an example, let’s say that

If a person searches for “best vegan restaurants near me” and the

3. Use Call to Actions

A call to action is beneficial to include in your description because it encourages the searcher to visit your site. Call to actions prompt searchers to take action and learn more about what you’re offering. It will allow them to have a general idea of what they can expect to find when clicking on a link.

Examples of Call to Actions:

  • Learn more about…
  • Discover how…
  • Show now and save
  • Compare…
  • Book your appointment

4. Attract visitors with the information they're seeking

It’s important that you take the time to create meta descriptions that are informative and actionable. This is a good time to reflect and think about your page and what you’re offering. Whatever you include in your description should be something the visitor is going to find on your site.

Let’s say you run a food blog that discusses restaurants in Salt Lake City. One of the posts your write is about the “Ten Best Restaurants in Salt Lake City”. These ten restaurants are going to vary in the type of food they offer. You may want to include some of the different cuisines or types of food related to the post. We’ll do a meta description example for this in the ‘Meta Description Examples’ section.

Meta Description Examples

With some of those ideas in mind, we’re going to learn how to write meta descriptions that will help encourage potential visitors to visit your site.

Example 1:

Topic: Salt Lake Vegan

Keyword: Vegan restaurants

Meta description: Salt Lake Vegan explores the world of plant-based eating! Discover delicious local vegan restaurants, bakeries, and much more in Salt Lake City.

Example 2:

Topic: Compact gardens

Keyword: Container gardening techniques

Meta description: Expert tips on growing a lush garden in small spaces. Learn how to maximize your balcony or patio with container gardening techniques.

Example 3:

Topic: Health improvement

Keyword: Stress management

Meta description: Learn effective stress management techniques to improve your mental health and productivity. Practical tips for a calmer, more balanced life.

Example 4:

Topic: Laptop guide

Keyword: Gaming laptop

Meta description: Comprehensive guide to choosing the right gaming laptop for your needs. Compare features, prices, and performance across top brands.